After expanding on the definition of advance organizers as proposed by David Ausubel, this paper offers possible reasons for the lack of strong empirical support for the use of the strategy. It then cites examples of the successful use of advance organizers with learners from nursery school through college and in a variety of disciplines. The paper offers guidelines for classroom teachers who wish to use advance organizers, and describes the structured overview format for an advance organizer, which appears to be practical in terms of teacher time and effort. The paper argues that the structured overview format provides an opportunity for teacher-student discussion that can clarify the state of the student's knowledge and that the organizer is an appropriate strategy for bridging the gap between what the learners know and what they need to know. (Author/FL)